Following the hugely well received recent releases of works by Debussy (CD HLL 7518) and Sibelius (CD HLL 7514), the Hallé returns to English repertoire in a disc of the principal orchestral works by John Ireland, spanning over thirty years, from 1913 to 1947.

Shortlisted for last year’s prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society’s Conductor’s Award and still in his mid 30s, John Wilson has established an enviable reputation as a conductor, arranger and scholar,  recognised internationally as an expert in the specialist fields of light music, jazz and music for screen, as well as a passionate advocate for British music. 

Although Ireland left his Cheshire home as a teenager, his music was played and recorded regularly by the Hallé under the batons of his contemporary Sir Hamilton Harty,  Leslie Heward and Sir John Barbirolli. Fashions change, and a composer who was taught by Stanford and was once admired as a master of orchestration in the tradition of Elgar has through unaccountable neglect of his relatively few works for orchestra tended to become pigeonholed as a miniaturist.

His chamber music, songs and piano music are rightly regarded as some of the best ever written in these islands; but John Wilson, a young English conductor with a passion for Ireland’s music, and the Hallé orchestra playing at the top of its form for him, show us that whatever the fluctuations of taste and popularity Ireland has to be counted as one of the most significant composers in our heritage.

The disc displays a wide range of musical styles and moods from the ecstatic and rhapsodic utterances of The Forgotten Rite and Mai-Dun to the humour and bittersweet nostalgia of the London Overture and Satyricon, from the affecting and dramatic music for the Harry Watt/Chips Rafferty film The Overlanders (selected and edited by Sir Charles Mackerras) to the noble patriotism of Epic March, composed in the depth of wartime Britain.

This authoritative recording was supported by the John Ireland Trust and contains a sleeve note from leading Ireland scholar Fiona Richards.

The Hallé gratefully acknowledges the support given to this recording by The John Ireland Trust.

The recordings were made in studio recordings in BBC Studio 7, Manchester in March 2007.

“I’d rather listen to [the Hallé] play English music than any other orchestra in the world.” The Times

JOHN IRELAND

Mai-Dun
The Forgotten Rite
Satyricon Overture
Overlanders: Suite
A London Overture
Epic March

Conductor
John Wilson

Catalogue number CD HLL 7523